Gotham's Need
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: Gotham needs Batman, so when a villain goes into the past planning on eradicating Batman from the timeline, Terry goes into the past to ensure there is still a Batman in that time frame. However, he doesn't know how things will end up changing. (Fanfic Bootcamp)


_Disclaimer - I don't own Young Justice or Batman Beyond. This was written for the fifth round of Fanfic Bootcamp during July 2018. The prompt was "an event creates an alternative universe". I had 1-1.2 k to work with._

**Gotham's Need**

Gotham needed Batman.

Even before becoming Batman, Terry knew full well how broken the streets were, having once been a part of the problem. He learned after the fact, from Commissioner Gordon things went downhill after Bruce retired. Despite all the costumes hanging in trophy cases down in the Batcave, not one person remained to take on the role of Batman.

As such, Terry knew the gravity of the words, "What if Batman died an early death?"

Spellbinder smirked, knowing full well his suicide bombers kept Terry busy long enough for him to achieve his real goal – to get the time traveling device up and running so he could go back in time and kill the original Batman. The newest Batman found himself staring at the wide grin on the person's face, knowing full well the gravity of the situation.

When he returned to the cave, there was no Bruce Wayne despite everything else still being there. In effect, he needed a time-traveling device himself, in order that he might travel into the past and fix what became broken. Reluctantly, he contacted the League, preferring just like his predecessor not to deal with the group. His eyes widened, seeing the face of Flash, yet there was no Flash in his generation. "Um. Who are you?"

"I could ask the same thing, dude." The person paused, looking at the screen. "How the hell are you contacting us from the Batcave? That systems been offline since..."

"Let me guess? Bruce Wayne died. Why didn't one of the Robins take on the mantle?"

"Robins? There was only ever one Robin, and he died the same day Batman did. Hold on a sec..." Terry took a deep breath, letting his eyes roll into the back of his head. The person in question hung up on him, only for their voice to come from nearby. "Wow. This is so not the Batcave I remember from childhood."

Terry turned, seeing the person he spoke with standing right next to him. His mouth opened. "Wait..."

"Dude, I'm the Flash."

"Yeah, well, there's no Flash during my time frame."

"There's no..." The Flash frowned, looking around. "What is with all these costumes. That's most definitely not any of the Robin outfits I remember my Robin wearing. Who's Jason Todd?"

"I don't know. The only Robin I've met is Tim Drake, briefly. There was I believe one other after him. Bruce doesn't like talking about the past."

"So he replaced him! I knew Batman was a douche, but..."

"No. The first Robin became Nightwing." Terry pointed towards the black and blue costume. "If Bruce dies, none of this happens. I don't happen, meaning no Batman for my generation."

"And apparently no Flash either." Flash muttered, not liking the fact he didn't exist. His eyes remained glued on the Nightwing outfit, the cogs in his brain obviously functioning. He took a deep breath. "I've a way of going back in time, but you're not going to like it as it's a one-way trip."

Terry flinched, realizing he'd never see the important people in his life again, but on the other hand this one person ruined their future. Without hesitation, he looked up. "I'll do it."

"Good. Also, promise me you'll save Rob. I can live with the idea that I'm not a part of the future, but any future without Rob – well, everyone needs him. That includes Batman. Don't forget that."

**~Y~**

"_That includes Batman._"

Terry tried pondering over the words yet found himself more focused on tracking down the villain before they ended up killing this Batman of the current time period. The Flash thankfully not only gave him a way to travel into the past – albeit with no method in getting back to his own time – but also gave him a method to track the person he was after. Of course, he didn't understand any of the science behind any of the devices, yet really didn't care.

He thus found himself sitting on a roof, watching the location of his target carefully, when an overly cheerful voice drew caught him off guard.

"Oh man. Batman is so not going to be whelmed by this." Terry stiffened as a brightly colored figure cartwheeled across the ledge in front of him before sitting down and kicking his legs out. Mentally, the future Batman guessed the person in front of him was the first Robin, yet the boy didn't look older than ten. Despite the overall cheerful demeanor, Robin still managed quite the Batglare. "Seriously, a Batman imposter?"

"Crap. You're not much older than Matt. What is – was Bruce even thinking, back then? I mean, now."

"Aster." Robin took in a deep breath. "You're from the future. Didn't Batman – the _former_ Batman – give you the lay down regarding time travel and _not_ spoiling things?"

"Yeah. That's kind of hard when the old man's disappeared from the timeline." Terry watched Robin's eyes widen, suddenly becoming fearful.

"Oh no." The next thing Terry knew, Robin quickly flipped off the ledge, his thin frame swinging away towards the building down below.

The future Batman flinched, before launching himself over the ledge after the young vigilante. They both landed just outside of the window. Peering in, Terry saw the original Batman in the original Batman outfit going up against the villain, meaning his timing was completely off. Robin turned slightly, his eyes widening upon not seeing a grappling hook.

"How..." Robin's head turned back, determined to rescue his partner. "No time."

Terry's teeth ground together, remembering the Flash made him promise to make sure nothing happened to Robin, but also the current modus operandi for Spellbinder. Batman – the current timeline Batman – turned his head, obviously not liking the fact Robin probably disobeyed an order. Quickly, Terry wrapped his arm around the boy's waist. "Oh no you don't! I'm not going to be the reason you end up dying here as well!"

Terry glanced up before leaping away from the building, and thought his mind played a trick on him. For, just for a moment, he thought he saw Batman – the other one – smile. He pushed away, pulling himself into a role as he hit the ground, tucking the young Robin in between him and the ground. He felt a few bones break upon landing.

Robin attempted pushing away. Despite the pain, Terry stood, pulling Robin back down as the building exploded. He tucked the young vigilante under his arms, preventing some of the flying rubble from hitting the boy. A sharp elbow to the jaw made him let go.

"No! Tati! Tati!"

Terry quickly grabbed Robin to prevent the boy from running towards the fire. "No. Don't you dare! I promised Flash I wouldn't let you die as well. I promised!"

Robin turned, his fists pounding into Terry's chest. "Why! Why didn't you save him!"

"You think I didn't want to! Flash said everyone needs you, including Batman!"

"I need Batman! I need my father!"

Terry cringed, before pulling the boy into a hug as Robin sobbed away. The world did need a Batman, but it wouldn't be Bruce this time.


End file.
